OHA decision reminds us to keep focus on injury, not insult

By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

In times like this, it's important to separate the insult from the injury.

To focus on the insult takes valuable energy away from ameliorating the damage done.

To focus on the insult leads to thoughts of angry retaliation instead of precision strategy.

To focus on the insult invites ideas of blind vengeance instead of productive justice.

While this is important to remember in our response to the horrible acts of terrorism against America, it is also important to remember in the wake of the state Supreme Court's ruling against the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

The court overturned a 1996 ruling that OHA is entitled to revenues from land taken by the United States after annexation, land from which the state has drawn profit for decades. The ruling dismissed OHA's claim to potentially more than a billion dollars. The ruling is a huge setback to hopes for compensation for the taking of these lands.

The insult was announcing the ruling on Wednesday, a day of mourning, a day when the world was reeling, a day when all of us were in shock.

The ruling had been pending for years.

The insult was furthered by a statement released by Chief Justice Ronald Moon, making it sound as if the timing of the announcement was not only appropriate but patriotic. He wrote:

"It is important that the courts remain open, hold hearings, issue decisions, and continue its business as a symbol of the American dedication to law and order, especially during times when these important values are under attack."

Yes, it is important that the courts continue uninterrupted. That is the American way. But it's almost unimaginable that no consideration was given to the timing of the announcement under these extreme circumstances. Was sliding out a ruling as significant as this on a day when our heads were spinning a callous oversight or a deliberate decision so as to muffle the impact? Neither is very pleasant to consider coming from Hawai'i's highest court.

But that's the insult, and we have to look past that.

The injury is to beneficiaries of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The injury is that, yet again, the vested interests of the state of Hawai'i have found a way to keep money owed to Native Hawaiians out of their hands.

What will follow will be nothing short of a tangled mess. Kicking the issue back to the Legislature is like throwing a football into an empty lot: It could land anywhere. It could get conveniently lost.

Worse, Native Hawaiian entitlements could get pitted against other emotional issues, like financing for education. And next year being an election year only brings more rain on hopes of dealing with this issue. Only the brave (or unchallenged) will touch such a hot button when they're up for re-election.

The Supreme Court's ruling did affirm the state's obligation to compensate Native Hawaiians for the loss of ceded lands, and this is where attention should fall.

There are many who would wish to sweep this under the rug. There are those who believe that enough time has passed since the overthrow of the Hawaiian government so that thoughts of justice have no weight among modern concerns.

But that's not the American way, is it? That's not "justice for all."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8172.